Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-09-03
THE BLUE AND GRAY.
AMERICAN HERoIsx, MAGEAEIxIrY,
AED RECONCILIATION.
The Monument to Commemorate the Com
mon Pride Of AL Honorary Men,
bers-A Soldiers View.

One OF the grandest features OF the
reunion of Meade's Army of the Po-
tomac and Lees Army Of Northern
Virginia. to be held at Gettysburg next
year, will be the dedication OF the
monument designed to commemorate
American heroism and national recon-
citation. This proposed monument is
the outcome of the reunion of the
Philadelphia brigade, Cowan's First
New York battery, and Picketts di-
vision, which took place at Gettysburg
July Sd last, the commands named
having unanimously resolved that such
a monument ought to be erected and to
undertake the work of its erection.
In conformity with that resolution
adopted upon the battlefield at Get
tysburg a committee of fifty six, from
the three organizations named, has
been appointed, and ROW propose to
begin with earnestness the pleasant
duty put uron them.
1t the first meeting OF the committee
the following named were unanimously
elected as honorary members General
w. II. Sherman, General Joseph E.
Johnston, Governor James A. Beaver,
Hon. George W. Childs, Colonel A. :.
Mcclure of the Philadelphia Times
Colonel Charles Emory Smith of the
Philadelphia p. eSs, Colonel John II.
Taggart of Tdqgart's Sunday Times,
Philadelphia, Colonel William Nj. SIN
gerly of the Philadelphia Record,
James Gordon Bennett and Whitelaw
Reid of New York, Judge A. W. G.
Nowlin of the Richmond Wing, q. OBJ.
Cowardin OF the Richmond Dispatch,
Hon. Henry Watterson, b. Du Pont
of the Louisville Commercial, John Il.
Mclean of Cincinnati, and G. Il. War
burton of Philadelphia.
The following letter from soldier is
printed with his consent, though he
mode ltly declines to pc init his name
to be given. A similar spirit is dis
covered wherever the.work has been
made known, aud the success of the un-
dertaking now depends on liberal and
prompt response to the appeal for
funds. 1t is desired to have the monu-
ment completed at the earliest day
practicable. The letter is as follows
"Ihe proposal to erect tablet
On the spot where General Armistead
was killed was worthy of true soldiers,
and met my hearty approval; but the
enlarged and nobler idea of erecting
instead "a monument to American he
roism' fills me with enthusiasm. IL is
a grand thought, and we can carry 1t
olt TO a worthy result by energetic ac-
ton.
There should, however, be bold
men in charge of the work, for no ordi-
na.y monrment can represent fittingly
such subject as American Heroism.
We who fought through four years of
civ il war, Americans against A meric1ns
have re lson to believe that tie heroism
exhibited on the field of Gettysburg,
rnd on hundred other battle fields, was
of tfat character which none but n free
people could have exhibited. Let us
put grand monument on the spot
where the Blue and the Gray met in
hanC to- hand conflict, and where it was
forever settled that this nation, dedi-
cited to the proposition that all men
are created equal, should endure. and
thai the government of the people, hy
the people, should not perish from the
cdrth.'
"There is no more fitting spot on
American soil for such a monument,
and am glad to be alive to have a part
in its erection. Go forward with the
wo>k, and do not lose sight of its lofty
character. / authorize you to put me
Oh the list for $780, with the additional
assurance that l will increase it to $500
if the committee shall determine to
carry out the idea in "A manner fitting
to the nobility of the theme.
"We should solicit contributions not
only within our own organization, but
from ex-soldiers and civilians every
where, that all may have a share in the
work. The press will certainly give us
its cordial support, and | wish that |
was in Philadelphia, to be better able
to assist by personal effoIts iu this glo-
rious undertaking"